The chief of staff for Herman Cain's presidential campaign proclaims, "We've run a campaign like nobody's ever seen" in a web ad that went viral Monday night. And boy is he right, taking a drag from a lit cigarette at the 40-second mark in the 56-second political spot.

Not at all surprising (although, if the ad were to be perfectly honest, he should have been taking a sip or two from a martini while stacking some $25.00 chips, as well) when you consider that from 1996, when he left the pizza company, until 1999, Mr. Cain ran the National Restaurant Association, a once-sleepy trade group that he transformed into a lobbying powerhouse. He allied himself closely with cigarette makers fighting restaurant smoking bans, spoke out against lowering blood-alcohol limits as a way to prevent drunken driving, fought an increase in the minimum wage and opposed a patients’ bill of rights — all in keeping with the interests of the industry he represented.

Under Mr. Cain’s leadership, the restaurant association opposed higher taxes on cigarettes and the use of federal money to prosecute cigarette makers for fraud — positions that Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said had little to do with the restaurant business.

And Mr. Cain argued vociferously that the decision about whether to go smoke-free was the province of individual restaurant owners, not the government. “The restaurant industry literally became the alter ego of the tobacco industry during that period of time,” Mr. Myers said in an interview.

Mr. Meyne,the Reynolds senior director of public affairs, wrote that in previous years his company had given the trade group “as much as nearly $100,000 in cash and much more in in-kind support,” adding, “They have done virtually everything we’ve ever asked, and even appointed us to their board.”

Mr. Meyne, who now works for the gambling industry and declined to be interviewed for this article, predicted as much. His 1999 e-mail assessing Mr. Cain’s prospects outlined his political weaknesses (“no natural geographic base from which to run” and no proven fund-raising ability) before offering a prescient conclusion.

“Bottom line: Herman Cain is certain, in one form or another, to be a political factor for a number of years to come,” Mr. Meyne wrote. “We have a good relationship with him, and that will certainly be to our benefit.”

That's Mark Block who worked as an official at Americans for Prosperity before becoming Cain’s chief of staff and campaign manager - you know the guy - the one who was legally banned from politics in Wisconsin for three years and forced to pay a $15,000 fine after being accused by the Wisconsin State Elections Board of violating election law in 1997 as campaign manager to state Supreme Court Justice Jon P. Wilcox.

That's Mark Block who worked as an official at Americans for Prosperity before becoming Cain’s chief of staff and campaign manager - you know the guy - the one who was legally banned from politics in Wisconsin for three years and forced to pay a $15,000 fine after being accused by the Wisconsin State Elections Board of violating election law in 1997 as campaign manager to state Supreme Court Justice Jon P. Wilcox.

AFP is a freont for the Loch Brothers. Cain is rool of the Koch Brothers. He was a TV spokesmodel for AFP and, when asked what he thought of David Koch, responded "David Koch is a patriot."

Cain has no organization on the ground in any of the early primary states and prolly doesn't need one of his own, given the mechanism of AFP being used and funded by the Koch Brothers (Thank you, Supreme Court).

AFP is a freont for the Loch Brothers. Cain is rool of the Koch Brothers. He was a TV spokesmodel for AFP and, when asked what he thought of David Koch, responded "David Koch is a patriot."

Cain has no organization on the ground in any of the early primary states and prolly doesn't need one of his own, given the mechanism of AFP being used and funded by the Koch Brothers (Thank you, Supreme Court).

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AFP is a powerhouse of campain finance. They spent a whopping $1.3 million in 2010.

Americans for Prosperity is a conservative-leaning PAC and 501(c)4 organization that raises money in support of Republicans and against Democrats. The group, whose forerunner organization Citizens for a Sound Economy was founded with the financial support of libertarian billionaire businessmen David and Charles Koch, also maintains 31 state chapters. Americans for Prosperity engaged only in electioneering communications during the 2010 elections -- communications that mention political candidates but don't overtly urge prospective voters to vote for or against the candidates. Americans for Prosperity mentioned 45 different candidates -- primarily Democrats who were cast in a negative light -- in its electioneering communications.
Outside Spending Summary 2010
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Grand Total Spent on 2010 Federal Elections: $1,322,060

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I mean how do they expect the poor teachers unions to compete with that?

The National Education Association is a liberal-leaning union which represents and spends money in the interest of teachers and educational support staff at the college and primary education level. It almost exclusively supports Democrats or opposes Republicans through its independent expenditures. During the 2010 election cycle, the NEA spent more than $100,000 either supporting or opposing 14 different federal-level candidates. The NEA spent nearly $1.9 million opposing the 2010 candidacy of Ken Buck, a Republican running for U.S. Senate in Colorado. Buck lost, as did Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dino Rossi in Washington, who the NEA spent $1.4 million opposing through independent expenditures.
Outside Spending Summary 2010
Select cycle:

AFP is a freont for the Loch Brothers. Cain is rool of the Koch Brothers. He was a TV spokesmodel for AFP and, when asked what he thought of David Koch, responded "David Koch is a patriot."

Cain has no organization on the ground in any of the early primary states and prolly doesn't need one of his own, given the mechanism of AFP being used and funded by the Koch Brothers (Thank you, Supreme Court).

Click to expand...

He currently does not have any staff in NH or Iowa, he is trying to copy Bachman..